


Rose Gold

by Say_lon_I



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Arson, Blackmail, Bottom Erwin Smith, Canon-Typical Violence, Consensual Kink, Humiliation kink, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Masochist Erwin Smith, Minor Character Death, Morally Ambiguous Character, Nonbinary Hange Zoë, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Temperature Play, Thug Levi, Unhealthy Relationships, hints of kenuri, slight zekewin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-13 01:15:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29893443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Say_lon_I/pseuds/Say_lon_I
Summary: Life as a small time criminal was no walk in the park. And then Levi had to go and fall for a man who had little qualms about treating him like his personal whore while cheating on a fiancée.
Relationships: Levi Ackerman/Erwin Smith
Comments: 7
Kudos: 28





	Rose Gold

**Author's Note:**

> Uhm. This was written very spontaneously while listening to a certain song on repeat (don't worry, I'll mention it in the next chapter, and you might be surprised), so appropriate amount of suspension of disbelief may be required. No rough draft no final draft no research, we die like men.
> 
> Important Note: I'm still figuring out how to write non-binary characters, so I apologize in advance if I fuck up. The insensitivity Levi may portray towards the issue is just him learning to adapt despite being someone who's generally not interested in other people. Do NOT copy him or take his approach to any NB person irl. 
> 
> Also, all the characters (yes, every last one) in this story have very questionable morals. All kink involved is consensual though. Seriously, mind those tags. I'm not kidding.

The rose gold ring with its square cut diamond was unsurprisingly a few sizes too big for his calloused finger. Levi fancied it anyway.

Times like these, when he was left alone with it in the dingy motel room for a few minutes, Levi tried to humor himself by putting it on in hopes of it being a perfect fit someday. Levi was no expert on rocks, shiny or otherwise, but he figured it was at least worth a few grands. The first time he’d laid eyes on it, the thought of swiping it and making a quick buck had crossed his mind briefly. He still considered it from time to time, just walking out the door with it, disappearing. The thought of it was entertaining enough.

The door to the bathroom opened with its usual creak. Levi put the ring down and took a long sip from the bottled water they always bought on their way up.

“I think the heater might be broken. I nearly froze in the shower,” Erwin commented, his teeth clicking. The smell of cheap soap accompanied him as he approached the bed. A towel was wrapped around his waist, and his hair was still dripping water down his broad, strong shoulders. “We ought to complain to the front desk about it.”

Levi scoffed, watching him from the corner of his eyes. “Why come to this shitty motel if you wanted five star treatment.”

Erwin cocked his head to the side, contemplative. A small smile crept up his full lips, tempting Levi to abandon his fad of disinterest so he could chase it away with his own mouth. “It’s rather ironic, isn’t it?”

Erwin never wore the engagement ring when they fucked. 

In fact, everytime they rented the room, he seemed to make a point of taking it off and putting it on the side table before even thinking of taking a shower. He’d do it when Levi’s eyes were on him to drive the point home. Whether it was guilt or love, Levi couldn’t tell, but his ire grew each time it happened. 

Sometimes, when Erwin would grab at the sheets desperately, his face shoved into the pillows, back muscles rippling under Levi’s firm grip, he’d try to imagine the gleam of the band around the man’s finger. Sometimes, while Erwin spread himself open for him anticipatingly, he’d get himself off to the idea of rose gold on tanned skin.

If he said any of that out loud, Erwin would give him a funny look. He’d tell Levi to get the fuck out and never come back. Or maybe he would laugh. 

Levi didn’t think he could actually predict what the guy would do. He didn’t know how Erwin ticked. Erwin’s reactions to some things were bizarre enough that Levi was always left second-guessing himself. Like the time he’d happened upon Levi mugging some mousy looking college kid downtown, or when Levi had threatened him with a knife so he’d fuck off and let him go about his shady business in peace. 

That was a long time ago. Levi remembered thinking that this guy was out to get himself killed. A god damn weirdo with zero self preservation instincts. 

Some days it was more obvious than others.

“We should try rope play today,” the blond exclaimed, looking too chipper for someone who was asking to be tied up. It was a Friday, so they didn’t need to worry about work until Monday. Levi narrowed his eyes at the other, clicked his tongue. Erwin avoided his gaze, but didn’t even try playing it off as a joke as he shifted on the bed. “Or well, at least tie my hands, I suppose,” he compromised.

“Thought you said ‘no marks’?” Levi replied casually. His heart was racing a mile a minute. 

Erwin looked thoughtful for a moment. “I already bought the rope though.”

“Shouldn’t ya give me a heads up _before_ we meet up if you’re gonna pull some shit like this?” Levi began to unbutton his shirt, slid it off his shoulders. He knew Erwin was watching him. He could feel the hunger in them.

"I eventually do plan to move on to more extreme stuff, you know? Ropes are pretty tame in comparison."

“I’m not your whore.”

"Of course not. You've refused my money plenty of times for me to realize at least that much." Erwin smiled at him beatifically, and the tension in Levi's muscles melted away with that.

The noises Erwin made when they fucked were as attractive as the rest of him. At first, he’d been rather quiet in bed, and it had taken Levi some effort to figure him out, although Erwin would happily volunteer the information. A strong hand on his flank, a sharp nip to the chest. He liked being manhandled. He liked being taken brutally while he gasped for breath. These days though, he'd metamorphosed into another being altogether; the lightest of touch could set him off. 

Levi licked his lips, hiked the man’s knee higher over his shoulder, hands gliding over the soft hair of Erwin’s thigh. Pulling his fingers out, he wiped them on the other’s taut stomach. Erwin was watching his every movement through hooded eyes, lying in the sheets on his side, his yellow hair now damp and a tousled mess, his tied wrists dutifully held up above his head. A deep flush had spread down his neck and chest. Levi resisted the urge to dip in and taste and instead struggled with the condom.

“You want it?” He croaked, rubbing himself against the man’s crack. 

Erwin sucked in an audible breath and nodded.

“Say it.”

Erwin swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. Levi wanted to take a bite from it. “I want it.”

Levi raised his hand and brought it down hard on the man’s exposed buttock. The yelp he earned was worth a lot more than rose gold. “You want what? Answer me like a grown man would.”

“I want your cock. Please.”

“Of course you do, you whore. Always so hungry for it,” Levi muttered gruffly, pressing the tip of his dick in, watching it strugglento sink into the ring of soft muscles. “You thought of getting fucked like this all day today, didn’t you? Couldn’t work at all. Did you get hard in the briefing room? Did you jack off in your tiny office cubicle thinking about my cock? How’d you explain the boner to your boss, huh?”

Sex with Erwin often set off a series of contradictory behaviors in him; Levi wanted to possess the man, break him, cherish him. Fucking him was much more than just about sexual gratification. It made something primal and animal stir in Levi’s gut. Erwin didn’t belong to him, never could, but with how he begged for subjugation and actively desired humiliation, Levi could make himself pretend for a few moments, make himself feel like a central pillar of this man’s existence rather than being just a quick and easy fuck on the side.

“Levi-”

He grabbed the man by the shoulder and dragged him down onto his cock. Erwin tensed up as the head popped in, as he fed more of his sizeable length to the man’s twitching ass, and slowly, evenly, he bottomed out. “Shit,” he hissed. His hands moved to stroke Erwin’s hips soothingly, both as a reassurance and to keep him right where Levi wanted. “You really liked that, didn’t you? Relax.”

Watching this man melt into the sheets under his touch was a spiritual experience.

Erwin didn’t smoke, but after he’d been thoroughly fucked for hours and left aching all over, sometimes he’d bum half a cigarette from Levi.

Levi didn’t think it suited his prim and proper salaryman image, or his respiration, but hell, who was he to deny a man like that? Besides, there was something keenly erotic, no, something _dirty_ about seeing a sweaty, weary Erwin sticking a fag between his lips, about watching him blow smoke in the cheap, yellowing motel room. The rope marks around his wrists only added to that appeal today.

“You’re going to ruin your lungs,” Erwin murmured, shifting onto his front under the sheets, but he’d never complained about the taste or smell of it on Levi.

“I’m gonna stop this,” Levi replied.

Something in his tone must have hinted that he wasn’t talking about the smoking. Erwin’s head turned towards him, and blue eyes assessed him carefully for a moment. “I thought you quite enjoyed the light bondage.”

He was getting full of himself. Levi stole back his smoke, sucked in a lungful, let his nostrils flare as he breathed it out. “I did. It was hot.” He had cum twice with nothing but the clench of a man’s ass, after all. 

“Then… Do you want to be paid for your time after all?” Erwin inquired. Not a shred of shame.

Levi scoffed. It confused the fuck out of the other man, he could see. He glanced at the rose gold band sitting on the side table briefly, before extinguishing his cigarette against the window frame. Fuck the motel staff and all; the place was a fucking dumping ground anyway. “If you call me again, I’ll break both of your fucking legs," he muttered.

\----------

Jealousy was a funny thing. Levi wasn’t proud of it. 

It started with a pretty woman running her hand through gold hair and ended with him getting superficial cuts and scratches, a busted lip. A big bruise to his ego.

Because Kenny took a handsome cut of their earnings to let them operate in this part of the city, it wasn’t long before Levi’s temperamental fuck up came back to bite him in the ass. The uncle-nephew relationship had never exempted Levi from the consequences of his own actions. He wouldn’t have been working all those petty extortions in back alleys for a living otherwise.

Although he’d stubbornly ignored every text and call he received from Erwin over the past few weeks, seeing the man buying a pretty brunette woman dinner one weekend had gotten him aggravated enough to pick a fight with some local pickpockets. 

“Why the fuck do you insist on making trouble for me,” Kenny berated when he was on the verge of collapsing. There were only so many well-placed kicks one could take from the minions of a mob boss. “You already owe me a fuck ton of money but then go around adding more to that debt, like I’m some sugar daddy.” Kenny watched him spit blood onto the floor. When Levi didn’t reply, the man slapped him across the head. “Shit for brains. Answer when you’re asked a question.”

“Shut it,” Levi muttered, but offered nothing else apart from that.

Kenny still didn’t look impressed, but he did sigh defeatedly and then rubbed at his eyes with a thumb and a forefinger. “He’s going to kill me one of these days. I'm gonna die in my prime because of high blood pressure and with no successor. Jesus fucking Christ." He kicked a nearby chair and sent it flying across the room, making the men standing closest to him flinch. "What the fuck are you looking at? Patch this rat up, you assholes.”

\----------

“Levi?”

He was out smoking by the front steps of Erwin’s apartment building when the man returned home. His injuries must not have healed as much as he wanted to pretend they had, because Erwin's warm blue eyes immediately zeroed in on all the visible bruises he was sporting. Dressed in a handsomely cut suit that accentuated his narrow hips and broad shoulders, his yellow hair conditioned and parted, he looked worlds apart from Levi’s wet cat, thread-bare self. 

Expectedly, he wasn’t alone. The brunette woman from the other day was by his side, her modest but in taste coat nearly engulfing her in the crisp October air, two slender denim-covered legs sticking past the hem, a pair of heeled boots on feet that looked to be larger than Levi’s. Maybe it was just the evening light, but she didn't look pretty anymore. She was too lanky, her jaw too strong, the glasses sitting atop her hooked nose too ugly. Her wavy hair was pulled back into a low ponytail. Levi had the urge to pull it out of her skull.

“Who’s this?” Levi inquired, doing nothing to veil his hostility. “Your new _paid_ prostitute?”

The pleasant surprise and mild concern from Erwin’s face drained instantly. “Levi,” he repeated, but his voice was a lot less warmer now, and a lot more sterner. He’d never used that tone with Levi before.

“What? So she doesn’t take money either?” Levi pressed on out of sheer spite. “I guess that makes two of us.”

"Levi, mind your language," Erwin warned.

"Or what?"

Levi held his gaze unabashedly. Erwin's face was getting redder by the minute now; it wasn't an everyday occurrence, not out of bed anyway, so Levi cherished it. Any kind of emotion on Erwin caused by his disruption was worth cherishing. He was garbage, he knew, but at least his stench was earning a few scrunched up noses.

The woman cleared her throat. "Maybe I should leave you two alone to sort this mess out," she suggested in a deep, thoughtful voice.

Levi's eyes widened. "That's a man?" He uttered, glaring at the brunette at first, then at Erwin, waiting for an explanation that he wasn't particularly looking forward to hearing. "You're fucking another man?"

The brunette looked awkward. "Well, not exactly-"

" _You_ shut the fuck up."

"That's enough!" Erwin interjected sharply. His fists were clenching and unclenching at his sides, and he was frowning. It was the first time Levi had seen the man remotely angry.

Levi quieted, if only for a second. He watched as Erwin took a deep breath, adjusted his tie, then watched some more as he walked past him and unlocked the front door. The man motioned for his companion to step in. Incensed, Levi made to follow the fucker into the house, but Erwin held him back with a well placed palm to his chest. 

"It's late. This is a residential area, and you've created enough trouble for today. I'm going to have to ask you to leave." There was no warmth in his tone.

"You're giving me the cold shoulder for _this_ prick?"

"Jesus fucking _Christ_ , Levi, I'm not the one doing anything!" Erwin hissed under his breath, frowning down at him. The palm on his chest turned into a finger jabbing at his rib. "You're the one who gave me the cold shoulder. _You_ ended it. It's done. What gives you the right to just waltz in now and demand things?"

"You're an engaged man."

Erwin's hitched breath was warm on his cheek. "And that is none of your business."

"How long are you planning to keep cheating on her?"

"Isn't it too late for you out of all people to grow a conscience?"

Levi opened his mouth to argue, but the flash of rose gold on the man's finger held his tongue. 

He glanced over Erwin's shoulder, at the brunette figure already beginning to take off their coat inside, and pressed his thin lips together. Indeed, what right did he have to waltz in and demand things? This man was stupid if he thought Levi gave a fuck about any of that.

"Are you going to fuck him?" He asked in a deadpan voice.

"They're not a man."

"Are you going to fuck or not?"

"We are."

A simple statement. It set Levi's gut on fire. He caught the man by the collar and dragged him down to where their mouths could meet. Erwin's lips were cold and foreign, his own ashy breath doing nothing to warm them up. A fist connected with Levi's solar plexus within seconds. He clutched at his abdomen and stumbled backwards, wheezing. He'd never been on the receiving end of this man's physical strength.

"Leave," Erwin muttered, wiping at his lips with a sleeve. His eyes were an icy blue.

\---------

  
  


If Levi's wrath was magma, then Erwin's was volcanic ash clouding the expanse of the white sky. It polluted Levi's senses, dulled the light of his wits and settled on his restless being in the aftermath of their eruption, slowly but steadily wilting him from the inside.

For days his calls went unanswered and his texts got left on read. A braver man would have paid the paramour another visit in an effort to redeem himself. Levi feared the scorn of blue eyes.

Weeks, months. Half a year.

Refusing Erwin on his own terms had been child's play; being refused, however, was a different matter. Killing a man did not take as much courage as making one. His might as well have been a lost cause. Obsession had no place in his curriculum. He knew of no life beyond crime.

And yet here he was, throwing a tantrum like a toddler left unsupervised everytime he happened upon Erwin walking hand in hand with someone down the street.

The damage was irreversible. A quick fuck with an underling or a blowjob from a hooker had no considerable effect on his appetite. If they didn't cry while willingly wringing every last drop out of themselves, he'd lose interest. Turns out, being shameless was a two-way street. His new found greed knew no bounds. Once, he even fucked up while calculating the interest to be collected because the customer's son was tall and blond and needed the tuition fees for his undergrad degree to be paid. Kenny didn't let his kindness go unnoticed. The black eye lasted for days, and his back scarred terrifically. He laid awake at night and dreamt of tasting rose gold.

\---------

  
  


"I'm sorry about your friend," Levi uttered.

If Erwin noticed his insincerity, he made no mention of it. The late morning crowd in the diner was loud, an easy enough excuse to use for his pointed ignoring, but Erwin did not seem to want to use it as a crutch. Not a hair on him had changed in the past half year, but he felt further out of reach than ever. The man steadily avoided Levi's eyes. He was busy rubbing soothing circles on his friend's back, while his handkerchief laid crumpled and stained with red on the table, and Levi contemplated getting another swing in.

"No, no. It's alright. I've had worse," the friend replied, conjuring up a smile despite his split lip. The round glasses perched delicately over a straight nose had come apart at one end because of the impact against hard concrete, and his beard looked like it hadn't seen a trimmer in months. He wore an expensive looking linen shirt that seemed too out of place on his unkempt appearance, but did not hide the athleticism that was carved into his body.

Levi looked between the two men. "It might bruise. Maybe leave a small scar. But that's about it." Erwin didn't return his gaze. "I'll pay for the hospital visit if you wanna go. If you wanna report me, that's fine too. One day in the lockup or a fine isn't that big of a deal."

"There's no need for that," Erwin interjected. 

"You're not the one who got hurt," Levi challenged.

The injured man cut their bickering off midway. "Mr. Smith is right," he insisted. "Mr. Levi, was it? It's just a scratch. I don't want to cut today short just yet anyway. It's so difficult to find time to grab a bite with someone when you're as busy as Mr. Smith and I, you see."

"All the more reason that I pay for the damages."

"Enough." Erwin frowned, then quickly masked his ire with a watery smile. "He said it's alright, didn't he?"

His companion nodded and grinned wider. Too friendly. His teeth were spotlessly white.

Levi forced his jaw to relax. Erwin didn't seem to want to offer anything to his raised eyebrow; always one to avoid confrontation when it came to his own lifestyle. Instead, the man picked up his bloodied handkerchief and got to his feet. "Excuse me for a bit. I'll go wash this. Go ahead and order a coffee for me if the waiter comes to take the order," he murmured.

A minute or so later after they'd ordered two cups of coffee and a beer, Levi too excused himself from the table under the guise of needing to take a leak.

"So what's the story with _this_ four-eyed prick?" He asked, his arms crossed, leaning against the shabby tiles of the diner restroom while he watched Erwin wringing pink water out of the handkerchief by the sink.

Erwin didn't look at him. "What story?"

"You gonna pretend he wasn't feeling you up under the table while you checked his injury?"

Erwin paused. Slowly, he raised his eyes and met Levi's piercing steel through the mirror. "There's no _story_. You know what I am better than anyone else." He didn't need to say it out loud. Self-deprecation was second nature to this man, and Levi did indeed know of it all too well.

He shook his head. "You flinched when he grabbed your arm."

"So you _punched_ him? You _assaulted_ my business associate in broad daylight completely unprovoked because I _flinched_?" Erwin sounded incredulous as he turned around to regard him. 

Levi shrugged nonchalantly.

"What if he'd actually decided to call the cops on you? What then?" Erwin waited, as if expecting him to make a coherent response to that. "What is _wrong_ with you?"

"I don't...I don't fucking know," Levi responded, raking a hand through his hair frustratedly. He could feel the beginnings of an oncoming migraine. "I was going to mind my own business like usual but then I snapped, _alright_ ? I wasn't thinking straight. I'm sorry. Is that good enough for you? Are you going to tell me what the _fuck_ is going on now?"

Erwin breathed harshly through his nose but otherwise remained silent. Levi was just beginning to contemplate turning around and begrudgingly walking out when the man finally opened his mouth.

"I think he's looking to blackmail me."

"What?"

"He found out." The man swallowed hard, crossing his arms over his abdomen, fingers leaving wet patches on his flanks, blue eyes glued to the floor. Levi had never seen him cowed like this. Submitting, yes, but never cowering. "He asked me to come meet him today under the guise of discussing work. I couldn't refuse." He pressed his full lips together. "Once word gets out in my company, I'm done for."

Levi considered it. "Does he have any hard proof?"

"Pictures." The man buried his face in one hand, drawing in another harsh breath. "Maybe more. I'm not sure. I don't know how he got them."

"I told you not to sleep around," Levi uttered counter-productively.

"Yeah." Erwin sounded defeated. His mirthless laugh was accompanied by the barely noticeable trembling of broad shoulders. "Yeah, you did. I should've listened. Levi, I should've listened."

Levi stood there motionless. He'd seen this man in all degrees of distress, watched him preening under duress and enjoying things others would balk at the mere mention of, and yet being outed to a bunch of desk workers was what got to him like this. What a fucking item. Levi was hopelessly taken in.

"I can get rid of him for you," he offered.

Erwin's pretty head snapped up so quickly that it was a miracle it hadn't come off. "Pardon?"

"That guy," Levi responded. "I can take care of him."

"You can?"

"Sure. Just a few threats would do, right? He looks like a pansy anyway. Probably would shit himself at the sight of a gun."

Disbelief was written all over the other's face. Once Levi's words sank in, it turned to concern, and then finally, resurfaced in the form of a frown. "Why?" He murmured.

Levi felt like he'd been electrocuted. It was a question that asked way too much of him.

"His beard is fucking ugly," he deflected.

\----------

  
  


Breaking into the guy's house after a few days of reconnaissance was easy enough; getting the upper hand in their scuffle and restraining him to the nearest chair with a roll of duct tape he'd found in the guy's study after knocking him out cold even easier.

True to his expectations, the busted lip Levi had graced him with had scarred nicely.

The framed photographs in the living room of a dark haired young man who could've passed for a serial killer piqued Levi's interest for only a moment. The floorings and most of the furniture were tastefully wooden. A flower pot by the window seemed to be the only other touch of personality in the otherwise clean and sophisticated household. As his hostage started coming to, Levi abandoned his survey of the interior and made himself comfortable on the couch instead. 

"You've got yourself a nice little suburban house here in the middle of nowhere all for yourself. Isn't that convenient for me now?" He commented.

Considering it had been only a week since their disastrous run in, Zeke Jaeger did seem to be having some difficulty putting a face to his voice. His expression was utterly clueless and well on its way towards panic. Levi didn't blame him. Having your skull bashed against your closet with no warnings would've done the same to any man. He could cut the guy some slack this one time. He took off the black mask that was covering half of his face and pocketed it, but left his gloves on.

Recognition illuminated Jaeger's eyes. "Mr. Levi!" He greeted, looking pleasantly surprised.

"Where are they?"

"Where are what?"

"You know damn well what."

The man tilted his head innocently. It seemed to take him some time to realize what it could be that someone like Levi would be after, but once he _had_ , he didn't look surprised in the least. "Ah. I _was_ wondering why someone like Erwin had a friend like you."

Erwin. Not Mr. Smith. Levi decided to give into his urge of taking another swing. His fist made a sickening crack against the other man's jaw and reopened the split lip. Jarred, Jaeger spit a mouthful of blood on the floor and wheezed. Levi was disappointed he hadn't managed to break any teeth.

"Where are they?" Levi repeated.

The man looked like he was about to wet his pants. Maybe he _had_. "Why would I tell you when I know you're going to kill me anyway?" Jaeger muttered, still struggling to breathe. One side of his face was satisfyingly red, and his words came out all jumbled due to the limited movement of his injured jaw.

"Who said I was gonna kill you?"

Jaeger chuckled. Or at least, Levi thought it was a chuckle. It sounded more like the wail of a dying animal. "I have an eye for this sort of thing. You look like you've wanted to kill me ever since we first met."

After two more strategically placed hits, the man did answer him straight. Levi had been worried for a moment there that he may have come across another tough nut to crack, but Jaeger was, like most others, all bark and no bite. Levi didn't even need to resort to threats of breaking his fingers or cutting out his tongue.

Retrieving the hard disk drive the man kept in his suitcase along with his laptop was the easiest part of the whole thing. It was past 3 am. Another hour or so and the early birds would be out. Levi turned the laptop on, connected the drive, and sifted through all the folders both on the system and in the external drive. The man was neat with his data organization; Levi appreciated that. It saved him a lot of time. _User_Manuals_ , _Sales_ , _imp_emails_ , _Movies_... Then under a folder labelled "Yes_It's_Porn" within the _User_Manuals_ folder, nestled casually among other downloaded kink videos, he finally found what he'd been looking for.

" _Man_ , you should see your face right now," Jaeger laughed breathily from where he sat across from him.

Levi regretted not having taped his mouth shut.

"Did you make these?" He asked, teeth gritted, fingers white-knuckled and twitching in his spandex gloves against the trackpad of the laptop. "You recorded him?"

"Sometimes. The others I worked hard on gathering. Most of them were made consensually too, as you can see. I didn't _want_ to do any of this, of course." Jaeger frowned. "He forced my hand. After using me to climb the corporate ladder all this while, he suddenly didn't want anything to do with me anymore and laughed my affections off. What else was I to do to keep him? Ask nicely?"

"You fucking piece of shit."

The video on the laptop screen showed a phone-shot footage of Erwin enthusiastically deep-throating an average dick and grinning like a fool when slapped across the face with it.

"Whatever he told you he'd give you for doing this, it's a lie. He's laughing at you right now. That's what he does. He acts like all he wants from you is business, but makes you expect more anyway, and then treats you like an eyesore when you're in deep. He's the devil." The man took a moment to sit up a little, wriggling in his restraints. "But don't worry. What I have here, it's not much, but he's terrified of it, and that's good enough. With this, we can take him down. You and me, Mr. Levi. We're in the same boat, aren't we?"

It was a last hand at negotiation for a compromised man, Levi knew, but he considered it. Considered getting rid of this loose end and walking out that door with the hard disk drive. It would be so easy. Dangling a guillotine over Erwin's neck and keeping him right where Levi wanted, watching him gasp everytime Levi lowered the blade only to pull back at the last moment, allowing him a few more breaths out of mercy before repeating the process all over again... The thought of it was as tantalizing as it was revolting.

Levi swore loudly and closed the window. "You got any other copies?"

The friendliness on Jaeger's face fell. "Do you think I'd tell you?" He scoffed, but he must have remembered his busted jaw then, for his eyes went wide in alarm.

"Fair enough." Levi disconnected the drive and shut down the laptop, turning in his seat. "You drive an Audi, don't ya? The one parked outside. It's a nice ride." He glanced at his hostage. "You think it got enough gas to burn this whole place down?"

\----------

  
  


When Levi stormed into his house like he hadn't just committed arson minutes ago because of his unanchored feelings, Erwin didn't chase him out like Levi had been expecting him to. In fact, the man looked concerned.

"Are you alright?" Erwin asked, taking in his dishevelled appearance, his conspicuous clothing, the smell of petroleum. "Your knuckles are covered in blood."

Levi didn't answer him. He pushed past the blond and ignored his distressed calls, picking his way to the barely familiar bedroom. The sheets were unmade, the comforter thrown haphazardly off of the bed, and a book laid on the side table with Erwin's reading glasses folded on top of it neatly. Beside it, the glint of rose gold was unmistakable.

Erwin entered the room behind him, teeth worrying at his bottom lip. "Will you please tell me what's going on?"

Levi scoffed. “Put it on.” He tossed the ring to its owner.

Erwin flinched, didn’t quite manage to catch it, but did manage to look a slight bit indignant despite his tousled hair and halfway undone night robe. “What?”

“I said put your fucking ring on, bitch.”

For a moment, Levi thought he’d crossed the line. They hadn’t drawn a line, if he were to be frank, not really, because a simple 'no' from Erwin did the trick when required, but he’d always assumed that if there _were_ a line, then this would be it. 

And yet, with his thick brows furrowing further, Erwin picked up the infuriating item from where it had landed on the carpeted floor and slid it onto his ring finger.

The gleam of the band wasn’t as distracting or worrying as Levi had thought it would be. Erwin wrapped his left hand around his length and slowly, steadily, stroked him to full hardness. While his calculated licks were pleasing enough, Levi had something twisted, something incredibly ugly inside of him that fought for dominance yet again. He grabbed the man by the hair and fucked his throat raw and watched him choke for a few moments. Erwin didn’t complain in the aftermath of it.

"God," the man muttered later on, trying to find purchase in the messy sheets as Levi penetrated him with barely any prep. The lube could only do so much when they were both this wound up with whatever it was that was eating at Levi. "Oh god, fuck-"

"Too much?" Levi asked gently, which made the blond under him only shiver more. Despite his grunts of pain, he was pushing back onto Levi's dick, his flushed face pressed to the pale blue sheets, legs spread wantonly. He was unbelievably tight. "But you like that, don't you? Like it when a guy fucks you hard and dirty and makes it hurt. Shit, look at the way you're sucking me in. You like cock that much?"

Erwin nodded. It was a simple statement that rang true, and the man had no shame in admitting it. Levi wasn't sure the guy even knew what "shame" meant. 

"Fucking whore." Levi pushed the rest of his way in, teeth clenched together. "Does your pretty fiancée know?"

Erwin's face remained buried in the sheets. He'd clamped down hard on Levi, made a quiet whimpering sound, but otherwise had no other verbal responses. Levi pulled him back by the hair, watched him shudder for breath. "Answer me. Does she know?" He hissed.

It took a moment. He heard Erwin swallow, and then take a deep breath. "N-no," the blond gasped.

Levi felt elated. "You haven't told her you like taking it up the ass?"

"No," Erwin repeated.

“Why not?”

“She’s my fiancée,” Erwin replied simply.

The feeling of elation crashed like a tide against the stormy shores, tipping into a frenzy. Letting his grip on the man's hair loosen, Levi grabbed one of his thick arms instead and twisted it onto his sculpted back. "I'm going to fucking ruin you for her."

Erwin gave a full-bodied shudder under him and murmured what suspiciously sounded like "please."

\----------

  
  


"You're in love with me."

The words were so bizarre and out of the blue that they caught Levi off guard for a moment. Erwin was staring up at the ceiling, his yellow hair mussed, the comforter doing nothing to cover up the damage Levi had been dealing over the course of the past week like a drowning man trying at another gulp of air. True to his submissive tendencies, he'd keep the engagement ring on each time they fucked. Levi almost wished he wouldn't, wished he'd raise anarchy one more time. The more Erwin gave in to him, the more he slipped out of his hands. The man looked exhausted, but there was a certain clarity in his eyes that hadn't been there during any of their past heists in shitty motel rooms.

"Did ya hit your head against the headboard or something?" Levi scoffed.

"You never told me what you did with Mr. Jaeger."

"You don't need to know." If the cops ever came to ask Erwin about the fire or any other suspicious activities around his late business associate, not knowing anything was the best defense the man had. If worse came to worst, Levi could always take the fall. He was going to be in for a lifetime anyway if he ever got caught; there was no need for a bright man like Erwin to go down for someone else's murderous intent.

"You realized that it was I who exploited him, and not the other way around, didn't you? I don't see why someone like him would keep quiet about that." Erwin glanced at him, lips stretched into a mockery of smile. Levi wasn’t sure if he wanted to kiss it or punch it off. "And you took care of it anyway. But the evidence, everything he had on me, did you keep it for yourself?"

"I burnt it."

"Why?" Erwin asked incredulously. "You would have felt good holding something like that over my head."

Indignant, Levi frowned. "What the hell do you take me for?"

Erwin looked at him for a long moment, then turned away. He seemed a little disappointed, even. "See? I'm not imagining it. You're more simple-minded than I'd thought you would be."

"Alright, then. Since the cat is outta the bag, do you wanna start picking out baby names with me?" Levi tried to sound as sarcastic as possible. He occupied himself by retrieving a lighter and a pack of smokes from the pants he'd discarded on the floor, and lit a cigarette "How about Gerard? That's a good name. Gerard Smith sounds fucking stupid though. Richie, then. No, hold on, I know. How about Terran-"

"The date for my wedding was finalized," Erwin interrupted, knocking the leftover breath out of him. It took all of Levi's courage not to let that be followed by an awkward silence. If he jumped out that window right now, how many bones would the concrete spare?

"Can you even get it up for a woman?"

"Well, that's a problem between me and my wife-to-be, isn't it?"

Levi shrugged and blew smoke into the crisp, early morning air.

"The venue is an hour or so from my hometown by car. It's going to be a small ceremony. We've booked this fancy hotel and all. Friends, relatives, some colleagues. Our families are pretty excited. They've been waiting for this for years." He glanced at Levi. "Would you like to come?"

Levi blinked. "Do you _want_ me to come?"

"No."

"Then don't ask. Fucking idiot."

The smile Erwin gave in response was the most beautiful thing he'd seen in a long, long time. He would murder another few times for it anyday.

Just when Levi had begun internally debating whether or not to fling his pathetic self out that window to spare himself this humiliation, the object of his ire rose and came to him. Levi watched bewildered as the cigarette was plucked from his mouth. Instead of putting it between his own lips and taking a puff like he usually would, Erwin then bent down to kiss him. It was tender and sweet and warm, like a soothing balm to his bruised ego, balancing him precariously on the precipice of sanity. Then the kiss deepened, had Levi's naked back pressed against the patterned, cool wallpaper, lips chasing his sighs. It felt like life itself was being sucked out of him.

When the man pulled back, Levi followed after his lips like a bee chasing the scent of nectar.

The blond turned away and evaded his advances. Levi, never one to shy down once seduced, latched on to the sensitive spot under the other's ear, traced his jaw with a threat of incisors, fingers tugging at the roots of his hair. Erwin, free hand braced against the wall beside Levi's head, moaned appreciatively.

"What do you want?" Levi mumbled, taking in a lung-ful of the heady scent of the other.

"Your cigarette."

"You want a smoke?"

Erwin pulled back, brought his other hand up to carefully put the cigarette he'd stolen back between Levi's fingers. "I want you to mark me with it."

The words went straight to Levi's dick, making the pathetic animal stir in interest. You'd think with how they were going at it like rabbits, his manhood would've wilted by now, but he never seemed to get enough when it came to Erwin. The smell of sweat and sex on this man shut down all his logic and thought processes. He swore under his breath softly, and tossed the cigarette in his hand onto the side table. "I'm not gonna do that."

"I want you to." Erwin was quick to pour honey into his voice. He was fully aware of the kind of effect he could have on Levi with the barest of efforts, the bastard. Levi began to melt. He grabbed a handful of the other's pectoral and began kneading the soft flesh between his fingers slowly, sensually. The whine he received in response was equal amount of frustrated and horny. "Levi, please. I know you would like to try it too."

He couldn't outright deny that. It was a tempting proposition. "Next time, then," Levi tried to negotiate, and out his mouth on a puffy, reddened nipple, suckling gently.

Warm, encouraging hands cradled his head. "There may not be a next time."

Levi bit down hard and drew blood. Erwin's gasp was satisfying in the lull of whatever spell it was that the man had been trying to cast on him. "Shut up," he muttered, licking the iron off of his teeth. "Shut the fuck up."

\--------

  
  


Maybe Erwin was right. Maybe he _was_ in love with the guy.

Nothing else explained why when he finally did give in to Erwin's strange demands, he didn't fuck; he made love. Braced against the large window pane with not a single item of clothing to shield him from potentially prying eyes on the streets below, Erwin moaned sweetly at being manhandled. As the glowing end of a fag left red, irritated spots between his shoulder blades, he keened and panted. Levi had seen him turned on, had seen him beg for cock, but this was beyond that. He rolled his hips slowly, deliberately, letting the man feel every inch of his fat cock, and licked at his handiwork like a kitten nursing.

Three barely noticeable, red spots. It may have been the affinity bias, but Levi thought they looked rather nice on that smooth skin.

Erwin rewarded him by dry orgasming. He then rode Levi bareback on the bed next to the suitcase that had been abandoned halfway through packing due to Levi's unceremonious appearance at the doorstep. His entire body was flushed a rosy red, and sweat slicked the tasteful muscles of his biceps. The sheer weight of him on Levi's bucking pelvis kept the latter grounded.

"Cum inside me," the man pleaded when Levi's rhythm began to falter.

"Yeah?" Levi held his gaze. His grip on the other's hips tightened, and despite his legs aching, he forced himself to find his vigor again. "You want to be marked inside out, is that it? Want to remember whose bitch you are even as you're standing at the altar?"

Erwin's pretty face twisted in pleasure as Levi came.

\---------

  
  


He didn't see Erwin off. What would've been the point anyway?

He spent the last minutes before Erwin awoke committing the walls of his bedroom and the angle of his nose to memory instead, and when Erwin offered to brew him some tea, his yawn obscenely cute for a man who managed to wring anyone's goodwill dry, Levi politely declined before putting on his wrinkled clothes and walking out the front door.

"I'll come see you soon," Erwin called behind him, offering him a small, refreshed smile.

He wouldn't, Levi knew. Despite being a conman in the guise of an upstanding citizen, despite the lies that came naturally to him behind that golden face, Erwin had his own code of ethics. Actual cheating didn't appeal to him. He'd previously mentioned that himself while explaining why he preferred sex with no strings attached. Levi had accepted the terms with little argument; he planned to uphold his end of the bargain till the very end.

After all, words about owning and being owned that they'd ever uttered were simply dirty talks that got Erwin off.

\---------

**Author's Note:**

> Haha, I know you wanted to throw rocks at me halfway through this chapter because of a certain blackmailer, but writing interactions between that dude and Levi was way too entertaining. The conclusion to that problem was more or less satisfying though, right? 
> 
> Gratefully, this mess is just gonna be two chapters long. I'll try to update soon. 
> 
> Feel free to yell at me in the comments if you'd like.


End file.
